SUMMER IN ALASKA

Your Alaska Summer Adventure Awaits.

An Alaska summer adventure is special. The skies are a brilliant blue, the sun ceases to set and the colors of wild flowers and lush forests form a postcard-worthy landscape. Come alone or as a group, it does not matter. Choose from fishing, hiking on glaciers or whitewater rafting. We offer multi-sport options that are sure to please the experienced adventure traveler.

Kings & Corn

We know we’re not supposed to pick favorites, but after 15 years of skiing corn snow in the morning and fishing for king salmon at night, it is pretty difficult not to love Kings and Corn.

Kings and Corn. Cast and carve your way through the day with summer heli skiing plus guided fly-in fishing for the legendary Alaska king salmon at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, Alaska. With the June midnight sun, the action doesn’t stop unless you want it to. All of Kings and Corn’s adventures are just a short heli ride from the front door of Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, perched at the headwaters of the prolific Talachulitna River.

Corn snow, the result of melt-freeze cycles, is ideal for Alaska heli skiing and boarding–it even holds up well in our margaritas. Pebble-size kernels of softening ice have a soft carve able surface and our guides are experienced harvesters who know how to predict the best timing for the best locations. Count on corn runs during the morning hours, or at the end of the day, after the cooling has refrozen the round crystals. One Kings and Corn highlight is experiencing a carve able surface for T-shirt skiing in 75 degrees.

Helicopter Fishing

Spending summer in Alaska isn’t all about hiking, trekking, and swimming.

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge offers an exciting and challenging activity every family or group member will enjoy. Prepare to cast your fishing rod and reel because we will explore the best fishing holes in the Tordrillo Mountains.

The Tordrillo Mountains are home to many rivers and streams, which serve as sanctuaries to a variety of freshwater species. Aboard a helicopter, it will only take a few minutes to reach some of the richest fishing holes in this remote area in Alaska. We don’t own these Alaskan rivers, but thanks to the access granted by helicopter fishing, we might as well. In almost 20 years of heli fishing these streams, we still rarely compete with other anglers when fishing by helicopter for all five species of Pacific Salmon, rainbow trout, Arctic char, and grayling. Our guides pride themselves in staking out territory that is so remote, that without their inside knowledge these locations are impossible to find.

Helicopter Biking

Heli-biking is the latest summer and fall activity added to Tordrillo Mountain Lodge’s extensive and unique list of outdoor adventures.

Heli-biking routes begin from the flanks of Mt. Spurr volcano and wind down paths carved in cinder and pumice deposits from area volcanoes. Some bikers may choose to forge new paths, or follow gentle ridge lines to alpine lakes. Others can bike directly on a glacier, for a whole new snow biking experience. Riders can choose a descent or ascent of virtually any length or difficulty, making this experience perfect for anyone interested in mountain biking regardless of their level of skill or expertise.

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge has a fleet of Fat Back fat tire bikes to fit almost anyone interested in heli-biking, as well as top-of-the-line safety gear including helmets, pads and gloves. Their experienced helicopter pilots are expertly trained in high-altitude flight, as well as the intricacies of flying with bikes attached to the aircraft.Learn More

Explore Alaska with Heli Hiking

Stay at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge and we’ll make your vacation more memorable. We offer loads of adventure activities to keep you active and entertained. Book your trip, pack your things, and get ready for some action. We’ll take you to the most spectacular hiking sites in Alaska.

We don’t believe that you should have to work hard for a beautiful view, which is why we have added heli hiking to our repertoire of Alaskan adventure activities. From Tordrillo Mountain Lodge, we whisk you away to the nearby surrounding mountain environments that offer hikes otherwise inaccessible with a helicopter. Opportunities range from exploring wide-open meadows of wildflowers to those that cover several miles and include aggressive vertical gain.

Depending on what you’re in the mood for, we may choose a full day hike, or explore several areas for heli-hiking opportunities offering varied landscapes and panoramic views of the world. If it’s glaciers you desire, we have access to some of the biggest glaciers in all of Alaska. We can explore many of these ice masses with crampons and ropes and discover Moulin’s, ice caves and crevasses. We’ll follow you.

River Trips

Located moments from some of the best river country in North America, Tordrillo Mountain Lodge is the perfect jumping off point for epic Alaska river trips. We can access many of the nearby rivers by helicopter or float plane. Day trips and multi-day floats with river camps offer guests a flexible approach.

One-day whitewater Alaska river trips floats on the Talachulitna river or Coal Creek are an easy flight to the best section of the river. We provide all the gear needed for a warm and comfortable Alaska whitewater experience. Our experienced guides can navigate your boat through class 3-4 whitewater and mix it up with a little fishing to top things off.

Our multi-day river trips are reserved for the many sections of the Talachulitna, our home stream. Excellent drift fishing for rainbow trout, king salmon and silver salmon always keep the waters interesting. Fish, walk and drift your way from camp to camp. Streamside meals and comfortable camps with quality equipment mark our trips as some of the best. We live to fish the “Tal”. We live ON the Tal.

Water Sports

We live on the water. And we live for water sports. It’s only natural for us to be on it and in it. Tordrillo Mountain Lodge provides equipment and instruction on how to use our various water crafts and participate in our water sport activities.

We provide canoes, inflatable kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, wake boarding and foil boarding. If your activity of choice involves swimming, we provide wet suits and dry suits. With the long daylight hours, water sports are a great summer highlight at Tordrillo Mountain Lodge.

Judd Lake has great fishing that can be paddled too or great wildlife viewing, and birding. Water sports safety is practiced at all times and we are happy to share our knowledge with you and your young ones. All of the lake-based activities and river activities are an ideal experience for families and first timers alike. Come enjoy the water with us!

Alaska Sky Trekking

We don’t believe that you should have to work hard for a beautiful view.

For decades, bush pilots in Alaska have been flying guests to the far reaches of Alaska. Fortunately, these days, many of the sweetest spots in Alaska have comfortable lodges. Let us suggest Alaska sky trekking itineraries, based on your interests, which will maximize your time in the area. Sky trekking is a great way to get a birds eye view of some of the prettiest spots in Alaska. We will arrange for your flights and accommodations in the surrounding parks from Tordrillo Mountain Lodge.

You can take a two-hour flight seeing tour over Mt. McKinley to the North side of Denali National Park, relax in one of a few lodges and enjoy a great meal. Just to the south of the Lodge, a two-hour flight will find you in Katmai National Park, home to the best bear viewing in the world. Fly out for just the day or stay at some of Alaska’s historic Lodges in the Illiamna area. Sky trekking trips are custom in nature and require planning that our experienced staff is happy to assist with.

Summer News & Articles

Tordrillo Mountain Lodge is the first outfitter in the United States to offer heli-biking, an unrivaled outdoor experience that enables mountain biking access via helicopter to millions of acres of pristine mountain terrain in the breathtaking Tordrillo Mountain range of Alaska. As a top provider of incomparable adventure experiences, Tordrillo Mountain Lodge invested in the country’s first Aero Quick Design Release helicopter bike rack, a state-of-the-art piece of equipment that can transport bikes without the burden of disassembling them for flight.

As of today, the Tordrillo Mountain Lodge in Alaska is open for heli-biking, making it the first outfitter in the United States to offer Alaska Heli Biking. The Lodge specializes in helicopter-based adventures, including skiing, fishing and hiking, and owns and operates its own fleet of helicopters. With the addition of a helicopter bike rack to its assets, it can now offer helicopter-based biking experiences as well. The lodge’s new bike rack can hold four bikes without disassembling them for flight.